Since I was a young kid, and with full credit to my late grandpa, I have been (comparatively) good at mental arithmetic, being able to do simple math calculations in my head. As long as it didn't involve algorithms, calculus, or any other higher level of mathematics, I was really good it. My grandpa helped me memorize the times tables early on, then I moved on to fractions, solving for x, squares and square roots... I was always a bit ahead of everyone else in my math class, fueling my pompous attitude of thinking I was smarter than others, when in fact I was just fast at one of the most basic functions of math, but one that does still have a bit of practical function, fortunately. I learned all squares (like square root of 21 is 441, 22 is 484, 23 is 529, etc., when I was bored in 6th grade. (Epilogue: After about 8th grade, I realized my math abilities weren't actually that great, and got my butt kicked in advanced math classes in college)
It all paid off for me today in Jeopardy, when they brought back an old favorite (OK, one of MY old favorites: "Do the math," the category where contestants tried to do mental math on the fly. All 3 struggled, with 14-day Chris Pannullo, who in the same game answered tough brain-busters like "improved explosive devices = IED" or the Roman goddess of vengeance was named "Nemesis," nonetheless tried and failed to come up with the 2 toughest clues, what is the value of y when y=x+1 crosses the y axis, and 12% of 75 is.........Admittedly these were not the easiest clues ever, but anyone worth mental math salt should have been able to get it within 5 seconds. The other 2 contestants didn't even ring in to try. On many occasions I've heard the same sentiments expressed by lawyers: "I became a lawyer so I didn't have to do math" or by people of the general populace, "I'm terrible at math." Seems like one of those skills like tying shoelaces or unplugging a toilet that you just have to learn as a kid, and it rewards you over and over in life. And like many things in life, it requires many repetitions, mental exercises, and just effort to actually learn it, a sentiment that has deteriorated due to computers and phone technology evolving so much that we have a calculator in our pocket anywhere to go.
If I ever become a teacher, I've wondered what subject I would prefer to teach: Foreign language? Social studies (I am a lawyer and loved history), but often I would circle back to math. At least I would know what the right answers are (as opposed to history, where people argue about the real facts all the time), and I was once good at the subject......except, was I a little too good? I feel like I might have a natural gift at doing mental math in my head, something not all students are equipped with, and I might struggle at teaching students on a basic level when I learned it pretty quickly on my own just because I "got it." Not everyone had a great teacher like my grandpa at home teaching me this stuff at a young age!
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